Amazon Pending Four Days Straight

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   Kenna McHughposted 2 years ago

   Anyone else experiencing "pending" on Amazon Revenues?

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      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Yes. My Amazon earnings show pending status from 12/14 thru 12/17.

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         Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Same here. I just wish HP had it together.

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      Amara Hassanposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I recently signed up for Amazon, and added some books and products related to mountaineering, in some of my mountaineering articles, but staff snipped my articles, and removed all products. I still cant figure out how can I earn through Amazon here! lolz..
      Any suggestion Kenna?

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         Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         When I add Amazon links, I write the link in to flow like I am not trying to sell the product. I write about my personal experience and how I benefited from the product.

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            bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            That's exactly what's recommended by HP. If we don't have personal experience with a product, we shouldn't be promoting it.

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         wildernessposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Mountaineering books in an article about mountaineering are certainly pertinent to the article.
         
         But have you used them and found them useful?  And why are you telling readers to buy them - did you not provide sufficient information in your article?  Was it just a tease to buy the book?
         
         At least I think that is the philosophy behind the HP response.  Had you talked about tents, given recommendations and a link to one you have used and particularly liked, it would probably have been left in.  Had you discussed a particularly hard to find tool that you have used and liked, and given a link, it would probably remain.
         
         The key is to discuss the product, indicating why you like it and only then link to Amazon.  If the product is off-beat, hard to find, or different than anything else all the better.
         
         As an example, I wrote an article on how to change the battery in a specific car (unusual car, unusual project).  I talked of the battery - it was only available from the manufacturer (at double the price) and Amazon.  Only two brands are available anywhere, and auto parts stores do not carry them.  A link has produced several sales per week for several years now and HP has not complained.
         
         Hope that helps.

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            Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            A good example, Wilderness. I have a racquetball article that sells starter kits because the article is about teaching kids how to play the sport. I have experience with these kits, which offer everything you need to play your first game. The kits are more expensive at sporting stores than at Amazon.

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         2. 96

            PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

            Wilderness is generally a wise voice on here and I believe him to be correct in this case.
            
            It's tempting to, say, write an article on Switzerland and add links to books on Switzerland. But HP want something much more specific nowadays.
            
            If you add an Amazon link, you need to add personal experiences, it needs to be more than relevant, it needs to be integral. It's actually not a bad idea to write the entire article around the link(s). You should at least write a section that integrates the link.
            
            It wasn't always like that. But nowadays, anything that could be seen as not fully integral gets snipped in my experience.

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            1. 91

               Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

               If you're writing about stretches, take stretches from a book. Talk about the author. Talk about how often you refer to the stretching book.
               
               If I am writing about caring for an indoor plant, I mention the fertilizer I use and why with a link.

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               Amara Hassanposted 2 years agoin reply to this

               Thank you Paul for your advice. Its really helpful. I will definitely do the same.

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            Amara Hassanposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you Wilderness, thats really helpful. :-)

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   3. STAFF

      Matt Wellsposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Sorry for the delay! This issue has been resolved and your Amazon Earnings have been updated.

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      1. 91

         Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, Matt! It's nice to see some earnings, too.

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2. 96

   PaulGoodman67posted 2 years ago

   My expectation is that everybody is pending. I certainly am.

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      Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      It appears to be that way. I don't get it. What is the difference between tracking/reporting both?

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3. 97

   EricDockettposted 2 years ago

   I see it too. It is probably no big thing, but then again the last time there was an Amazon delay around this time of year I ended up losing thousands in annual income.
   
   This is one of those cases where a few well-placed words from staff can put the community at ease.

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      PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, that was appalling. Confused situation for weeks, then Amazon income slashed in half. That must have impacted HP earnings as well as us writers.
      
      Hopefully, it's nothing like that. My non-HP Amazon earnings are being reported normally on a daily basis, so it's presumably an HP techno issue?

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         Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         My non-HP is reporting, too.

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            bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            Yep. Ad program earnings are current.

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      Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I agree. Few placed words will help so much.

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4. 97

   Carb Divaposted 2 years ago

   Me too.

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5. 96

   Glenn Stokposted 2 years ago

   This pending issue has happened before. It’s usually due to a delay with Amazon sending the final data to HubPages. But my activity report (set the filter to see that)  shows unshipped sales, so I’m not worried.
   
   Amazon sales account for roughly half my earnings, so it would be terrible if it disappeared. I don’t think HubPages would allow that though, since they make decent income from our sales.

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      Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I agree. HubPages would not discontinue Amazon.

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      PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Unfortunately, I don't think HP get to "allow" or not allow Amazon anything, Glenn. Amazon are by far the bigger player and need HP far less than the other way around.
      
      I think HP thought they had a deal with Amazon regarding commission rates, but it didn't stop Amazon halving them.
      
      It's a similar thing with Google. They are way too big to worry too much about HP.
      
      HP keeps its relationship with Amazon and Google, because it basically has to to survive, but it's one of ever-diminishing influence and returns. That's the problem.

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      1. 96

         Glenn Stokposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Good points, Paul. I have to agree with your logic. All the reason to avoid full dependence on ad revenue. Hence—Medium.

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            PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, the weakness of HP is that its business plan relies on fair treatment by Amazon and Google.
            
            The weakness of Medium is perhaps that it seems erratic. The owner seems to be constantly trying new approaches. I'm never sure where the site is going or what changes are going to be announced from month to month.
            
            And that Medium writing challenge was just plain weird. The winners seemed to parachute in, write stuff that was unlike articles that normally appear on the site, then, in many cases, they didn't write anything else and just disappeared again after pocketing thousands.
            
            What the heck was it all about? The strangest thing ever!
            
            I think I'm going to keep writing for HP and Medium, but put more effort into non-writing earning stuff. I earn a trickle from merch designs, but maybe I could boost that, now that I have some idea what I'm doing...
            
            It's a difficult balancing act. Don't want to put all my eggs in one basket. But don't want to spread myself too thinly, or throw time into things with low rewards.
            
            But I'm certainly thinking about it all.

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               Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

               Paul/Glen,
               
               You both offer some excellent points.

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               Glenn Stokposted 2 years agoin reply to this

               I feel the same way about Medium as you do, Paul. I have conflicting views about both platforms. HubPages is great with attracting Google traffic and we earn from that. Medium attracts Google traffic too, but we only earn from paid subscribers. So, that's why I feel conflicted.
               
               The thing that keeps me interested in Medium is the fact that there are no ads, and HubPages/Arena Group is messing up too much with ads that turn readers away, in my opinion.
               
               That's why I need to keep my eggs in both baskets. But I'm losing hope for Medium as time goes by, for the reasons you mentioned, and also due to the ongoing problems with their server, Such as the numerous 500 Internal Server Errors and slow page load speed.

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                  theraggededgeposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                  Medium working well for me. Increasing income daily and now level-pegging with HP. Although, of course, I have to write for Medium much more frequently. I've also got a few paid referrals, which helps my motivation, if not my income (much).
                  
                  Adsense also coming through my website, higher than usual. I might get back up to 2018 levels (4 figs) at this rate

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                     Glenn Stokposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                     Yes, I discovered the same thing about the need to write frequently on Medium. That's one thing that makes HubPages better, since organic traffic builds up over time for each individual article. It looks like both platforms have good and bad issues. None have it all.

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                  PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

                  For me, Medium's fun because you can write opinion pieces, rants, pretty much anything that stirs emotions. HP material generally has to be fairly dry in its tone and presentation.
                  
                  I think that the Medium techno problems are partly to do with all the changes of direction. The techno team are always playing catch-up with the ever-changing vision.
                  
                  My earnings at Medium have plateaued. I still earn way more from HP and don't see that changing much anytime soon.

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                     Glenn Stokposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                     My earnings are better on HubPages too. That's mainly because we continue to earn from old articles with organic traffic, while Medium requires constant writing of new content to keep the old stuff alive.

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   poppyrposted 2 years ago

   The few days before Christmas is the worst time for this to happen as well.

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7. 96

   PaulGoodman67posted 2 years ago

   Amazon earnings now updated and no longer pending.

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      Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Yah!

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8. 93

   Glenis Rixposted 2 years ago

   The sale of three gift vouchers with a total value of 162 dollars has recorded on my Amazon sales account - but no sales commission has been earned

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      eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      0% commission on gift cards according to this unfortunately.
      
      https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/he … 8U84RAYDXZ

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      Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      The purchased vouchers or bought items with vouchers?

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      PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, they show gift cards in sales even though you get no commission earnings. It's cruel.

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